DAVE'S DIARY - 25 SEPTEMBER 2004 - ROY DRUSKY RIP
ROY DRUSKY RIP @ 74
Born:
ROY FRANCIS DRUSKY JR - June 22, 1920, Atlanta, Georgia
Died: September 23, 2004, Nashville, Tennessee.
THE GEORGIAN WHO PASSED ON I FALL TO PIECES
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When
singing actor and DJ Roy Drusky died in Nashville he left more than
his movie roles and hits in his slipstream. The septuagenarian might also be recalled as a proud Georgian gaucho who declined an offer to record the classic I Fall To Pieces - a Patsy Cline career song. Legendary producer Owen Bradley suggested that Roy try his mellow baritone on the Hank Cochran-Harland Howard tune in 1961. < Roy Drusky |
"I told
Owen, 'I think it's a great song, but it's a girl's song.'" Roy revealed
just a year before his death after a lengthy illness.
"He replied, 'If you don't want it, I've got a girl that will do
it.' He played it for Patsy Cline, she recorded it - and that's history."
Drusky had no regrets - he enjoyed 14 Top 10s from 1960 to 1970, including
Three Hearts in a Tangle, Another and Second Hand Rose.
He also wrote hits for others, including Faron Young's 13-week chart-topper
Alone With You, whose success inspired Roy to move to Nashville.
FROM
BASEBALL TO MUSIC
When Drusky was raised in Atlanta he chose baseball ahead of music during
his formative years.
His mom, a church organist for 20 years, couldn't get him interested in
musical training.
He was too interested in baseball.
"I ate, slept and breathed baseball," Drusky confessed.
His mother couldn't get him interested in piano practice but singing was
different.
The Young People's Choir at the Moreland Baptist Church allowed him time
to play baseball.
Roy bought his first guitar while he was in the Navy and also enrolled
in Atlanta's Emory University to begin studies in veterinary medicine.
He made extra money performing in his band, the Southern Ranch Boys, after
an
unsuccessful try out for the Cleveland Indians.
Roy performed regularly over WEAS in Decatur, Georgia and became a DJ
and was signed to Starday Records.
On the strength of a 1953 single, Such a Fool, he was signed to
Columbia Records in 1955.
None of his early singles made it to the charts but he was made a member
of the Grand Ole Opry on June 13, 1958.
FARON YOUNG
Soon he added
two weekly television shows in Atlanta and was doing live shows in the
area when Minneapolis Radio Station KEVE made an offer.
"My time in Minneapolis proved to be both pleasant and invaluable,"
Roy recalled.
"I didn't realise what devoted country fans those people were in
the upper Midwest. I got a boost to my career and my ego during my eighteen-month
stay."
Drusky continued writing songs and gained attention in the music industry
when he wrote Alone With You, Faron Young's single that spent 13-weeks
at No. 1 in 1958. Drusky also wrote Young's Country Girl, a single that
topped the chart for four weeks in 1959.
Decca Records executive Owen Bradley signed him to the label in 1958.
At Decca, Drusky co-wrote his first two hits - Another and Anymore - both
released in 1960.
He also cut a duet with Kitty Wells, I Can't Tell My Heart That.
In 1961, Drusky released the double-sided hit I'd Rather Loan You Out/Three
Hearts in a Tangle, and also issued his first LP, Anymore
With Roy Drusky.
In the middle of the decade he began recording with singer Priscilla Mitchell
and with her released two albums of duets.
Priscilla later married singing actor and hotshot guitarist Jerry Reed.
Drusky had moved to Mercury Records by the time he recorded Yes, Mr.
Peters, a duet with Priscilla that stayed at No. 1 for two weeks in
1965.
Numerous top 10 hits followed - I Went Out of My Way, Second Hand Rose,
Peel Me A Nanner , (From Now On All My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers,
Such A Fool, All My Hard Times, and White Lightning Express
MOVIES
The latter
was from the movie of the same name.
Roy sang the title song and appeared in the movie.
He also made two other country music films, Forty Acre Feud and
Golden Guitar.
In addition Drusky began a career as a producer for acts like Pete Sayers
and Brenda Byers.
As a recording artist his success tapered off after 1965.
Although he released 11 chart hits between 1966 and 1969, only two, Where
the Blue and Lonely Go and Such a Fool, reached the
Top Ten.
However, in the early years of the next decade he made a comeback: 1970's
Long Long Texas Road, from the album All My Hard Times,
was his first Top Five hit in six years.
It was also his last.
He later charted singles on the Capitol and Scorpion labels.
He also produced other artists and was instrumental in establishing SESAC,
helping establish the performance rights organisation's Nashville office.
Drusky's most recent music endeavours include five gospel albums on the
Chapel/Bridge label.
He also performed gospel concerts nationwide with Evangelist Kenneth Cox.
No funeral service will take place, although a memorial service is being
planned.
A
L B U M S
Title Year/Label/Format
Anymore With
Roy Drusky -1961
It's My Way -1962
All Time Country Hits - 1964
The Pick Of The Country - 1964
Songs Of The Cities - 1964
Yesterday's Gone - 1964
Country Music All Around The World - 1965
Roy Drusky - 1965
The Great Roy Drusky Sings - 1965
Love's Eternal Triangle (with Priscilla Mitchell) - 1965
Country Song Express - 1966
Together Again (with Priscilla Mitchell) - 1966
In A New Dimension - 1966
If The Whole World Stopped Lovin' - 1966
Now Is A Lonely Time - 1967
We Belong Together (with Mitchell) - 1968
Jody And The Kid - 1969
My Grass Is Green - 1969
Portrait Of Roy Drusky - 1969
All My Hard Times - 1970
I'll Make Amends - 1970
I Love The Way That You've Been Loving Me - 1971
Doin' Something Right - 1972
Good Times, Hard Times - 1973
Peaceful Easy Feeling - 1974
Night Flying - 1976
This Life Of Mine - 1976
English Gold - 1980
Roy - 1981